A Few More Poems...

Promises, Promises
By C.K. Armistead
June 2014
(For Michael O., because he loved it so)

Early Spring is a lovely promise.
New shoots,
Young leaves,
Tender blooms.

But early Summer
Is a promise fulfilled
Thick, green grass,
Deep, dappled shade,
Beautiful blossoms.



Cloud Fleet
C.K. Armistead
June, 2014

 After their midnight Battle
Filled with cannons of thunder
And bomb bursts of lightening
With fusillades  of water
That drenched the thirsty land
 All day Nature's vast armada
Has sailed past
Giving teasing glimpses
Of ocean-blue sky
Between the great grey ships
Casting shadow patterns
On the sparkling land.
 Perhaps their majesty
We should heed
As a reminder this day
That we live perpetually
Beneath Nature's
Daunting sway.


Little Makeshift Girl
By C. K. Armistead
June 2014

Just a makeshift girl
Good enough to pass the time
Until you find
The one you really want.
Forlorn lonely girl
Knows she isn't really
In anybody's heart.
She tries not to mind
But when no one's around
The makeshift girl
Falls apart
Can't make do
With part-times and
Promises forever
With almost-love
And not-quite-right
She cries herself to sleep
Most nights.
But somewhere
There's a love
Just for her
Even though she doesn't know it.
Hang on, makeshift girl,
Don't blow it
He'll soon come 'round
And then you'll know it
You deserve a love
All your own.


Compton 90221

By C.K. Armistead
June, 2014

Once, it was a good place.
We had block parties
Lots of different colored faces
Having fun
Sharing food and laughter.
And then the others came.
The ones with guns and cruel hate
Drove all the smiling ones
Away.
Left our block, our whole town,
Seedy and weedy
And full of bullet holes
And the profound sorrow
Of lost Hope.



Healing
By C.K.Armistead
June 2014

 More than a year
Has come and gone
Since the storms
Chewed up our town.
Still, many empty lots
Many businesses gone
Lives still rebuilding.
Yet,
Many homes are rebuilt.
Many new people have
Come to live in this little city
With the great big heart.
New plans are in place
To keep us all safe
As can be
If Nature decides
Again to be nasty.
Folks are still
Quick to smile
Glad to see their neighbors
And I am so proud
To be part of this
Community.

Small Miracles
By C. K. Armistead
June, 2014
For Butch and Walt

I hold in the palm of my hand
A gateway to knowledge
All the knowledge
Held in common on this planet.
With it, I can interact with people
On the other side of the country,
Or the world, or even
In orbit around it.
This little gizmo
So common that we
Take it for granted now
Was unimaginable
When I was a child.
My Pop said
Machines like this were
"impossible."
Not so
Said men like my brothers
Who built smaller,
More powerful circuits
And smaller, smarter
Machines
Men who read Asimov
And Bradbury
And dared to dream
Dreams.
Thank you for dreaming
And waking to build.